By: WAXIE Editorial Staff  |  October 25, 2022 

Parts of the country are experiencing their first snowflakes of the season. Snowfall makes for breathtaking views and an invigorating crispness in the atmosphere. However, as we approach the winter months new facility maintenance challenges arrive at our doorstep in the form of snow and ice. As the ground freezes over or the snow melts along pathways, trip and fall hazards arise. With proper matting and floor maintenance, you can avoid slips and falls to ensure a safe place for your building occupants.

Prevent Injuries with Entryway Matting

No matter how different the architecture, design, or function of a building, there is one thing all facilities have in common and that is how the outside world gets tracked in through its entrances every day. 

Here's some food for thought, slips and falls cost companies $20,228 on average per slip & fall workers’ compensation claim and $100,000 median per premises liability suit. In addition to how costly slips and falls can be, they also cost people their health. Injuries from slips and falls include sprains, fractures, cuts, and more. 

A simple yet efficient way to prevent these accidents is by implementing an entryway matting system. Invest in good scrapper mats on the exterior and interior of your entrances that are long enough that people entering the building take 3-4 steps on the mats before they step onto your regular flooring. These mats wipe off most of the moisture from their shoes to reduce slip and fall incidents. 

On top of scraper mats there are wiper mats, anti-fatigue mats and safety mats your facility maintenance team can use to reduce hazards and foster a healthier environment.

Do you have effective entryway mats? Here are 4 signs you have the mat right for the job:

1. It stops soil and water at the door. Effective mats provide a combination of scraping and wiping to stop the maximum amount of soil.

2. It absorbs soil and water for removal. An effective entryway mat will provide a way for the soil and water to be contained on the mat so that they cannot spread to the surrounding floor and create a slip/fall hazard.

3. It reduces the tracking in of soil and water. This is best accomplished by matting with a bi-level construction that provides an upper surface for walking and a lower area where soil and water are stored until removed by cleaning.

4. It provides a slip-resistant walking surface. The bottom of the mat should be slip-resistant to minimize movement on the floor when it is walked on.

These signs serve as great foundations for any entryway matting system for further guidance we teamed up Crown Matting to bring you Winter Matting Tips and Suggestions from Crown Matting Technologies.

Remove Snow and Ice with Deicers

When inclement weather brings snow flurries and blizzards to your front door, ensuring paths are safe to cross and floors are good to tread can be difficult. The key to safe winter passage is the removal of snow and ice from your walkways. A powerful snow/ice removal tool is deicers.

Our WAXIE Alaska branch and its customers are frequent users of deicers as special floor cleaners that help battle ice melt residue left on floors. Deicers help keep your premises safe since it melts ice and snow completely day or night and reduces slippery ice conditions. There are options that are 100% soluble, contain zero dangerous ingredients, and are not harmful to the surrounding foliage. 

Consider adding matting and deicers to your inclement weather kit to promote a safer and cleaner environment for your building. If you are looking for more floor care tips be sure to check out our additional resources below!

WAXIE is committed to helping our customers keep their facilities cleaner, healthier, greener, and safer. That means creating customized cleaning solutions to meet your specific needs, and then providing the ongoing training and support to help you achieve a cleaner and safer building environment with Winter floorcare tips.  

Please contact your WAXIE Account Consultant today to schedule a consultation.